Healing with the Archetypal Mother Earth

by Melissa Corter,  Elemental Space Clearing Practitioner, Gateway Dreaming Practiitoner, Oracle Card Reader

Various wisdom traditions believe we carry invisible wounds into the world, inherent afflictions energetically weaved through personal ancestral lineages. Some wounds develop through impactful life experiences; both serve as opportunities, igniting a healing journey or setting us on a path of self-discovery.

Recently, I discovered a wound completely hidden from my awareness as a vision coupled with sensations began to arise. I sat back and relaxed while a pillow snuggly supported my head. With intention, I reclined and allowed the pillow to support me; this began a symbolic gesture of receptivity… being held with love.

My breath deepened, and with each exhale; tension released, and tears fell. An intuitive impression surfaced through an internal sense of being held, followed by a vision of many mothers of all different lineages cradling my head, lovingly holding me as I let go and sobbed for what felt like a lengthy period of time.

Countless hands gently held me while tears streamed down, my body shaking and releasing what felt like generations of pain. Once the experience was complete, I was able to reflect and understand what had occurred through journaling with the experience in mind. The pillow allowed my capacity to expand, opening my heart and releasing old stagnant emotions from places I did not have prior awareness of holding. The earth mothers were teaching me how to receive and be held in unconditional love.

This profound experience solidified my knowledge of body wisdom in relation to healing. Mater is a Greek word for mother, soma is a Greek word for the body, and psyche is a Greek word for soul; they all work in a harmonious flow. Being with the body and psyche in this way activates the imagination, allowing emotions to move through.

Somatic intelligence is a term used to describe the presence of felt sensations through the body, accessing the underlying wisdom within. This intelligence may unlock emotions, cellular memory, and healing potential. We can utilize this innate intelligence to bring energy in or release tension and pain, reshaping misalignment and tending to individual needs.

We can connect to and receive from the earth element in a variety of forms, spontaneously allowing inner images and intuitive insights to arise. The body reflects our relationship with the earth element and the archetypal mother (mater). I struggled for many years to tend to my body, yet, a relationship deepened as I learned to embrace my body (soma) as a living being.

Dreams, breathwork, and movement are just a few of the many experiences that awaken this intelligence and reveal the soul as it resides in the background of awareness. Working with the body can invoke images, symbols, or hidden patterns available to integrate into our daily lives. After having my experience of the ‘many mothers’ from my somatic experience, it is now a daily ritual for me to spend time in nature, and to find creative ways to be with her regardless of temperature, weather, or location.

It is helpful to hold an image in mind, such as a river flowing unimpeded, water abundantly flowing through a canyon adoringly held by mother earth. Images and symbols support the opening of stuck or stored energy. Another approach is allowing the body to reveal the imagery instead of intending it or creating it with the body to see what is being held versus directing with the mind.

Curiosity toward the body’s wisdom can bring presence to unconscious patterns and show us where we may be operating out of survival instincts or the ways we hold unconscious armoring, protection, or openness. The body is a container of experience, and the psyche has its own timing; learning to trust inner wisdom softens the relentless pacing of the external world and allows us to experience psyche and soma as expressions of a unified whole, a portal to innate wisdom.

The intricate nature of the psyche and soma are beyond remarkable to contemplate, and it is easy to miss or take for granted what is right before us, the sacred vessel of the body.

The body is more than a container for the psyche (soul). Just as the psyche (soul) can be viewed as a dimensional field, the body can be experienced in the same manner; overlapping fields coming together, as countless pieces of information are translated, consumed, and expended independently of thought. Observing the body creatively shifts our perspective toward seeing it as a living being, a source of imagination holding all of our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. At the same time, various systems simultaneously function on the physical level.

Adopting a symbolic approach to the language of the body teaches us how to lean into discomfort and understand the body through signals, sensations, dreams, and creative expressions. Denise reminds us that “everything in nature has the intrinsic ability to restore itself.” The psyche supports us as we investigate the sensations and imagery communicated through the body versus a symptom to get rid of. Psyche and soma are part of a larger rich, creative field of healing potential we can cultivate over time… opening to the innate intelligence within.